Phonostages — Canor Audio PH 1.10

Canor Audio's PH 1.10 is a valve phono stage carrying a recommended price of EUR 5,500 plus local VAT, built for MM and MC pickups that may be connected at once without interference, and the MC path uses a Lundahl step-up transformer. Global feedback is absent from the design, and polypropylene capacitors sit in the signal path.

Key specs that matter

Two RCA sockets serve as inputs, one assigned to MM and one to MC, and the outputs come on both RCA and XLR, which gives a true balanced output. Output impedance is below 300 ohms on RCA and below 600 ohms on XLR. MM loading offers eight capacitance values of 50, 150, 270, 370, 520, 620, 740 and 840 pF, and the MM gain is 46 dB. For moving coil the unit has two banks, MC1 with loads between 10 and 1,200 ohms and 70 dB of gain, and MC2 with loads between 2 and 300 ohms and 76 dB of gain, each with eight steps. RIAA equalisation is accurate to within 0.3 dB over 20 Hz to 20 kHz, and distortion is below 0.1 percent at 1 V RMS. Canor lists signal-to-noise ratios of 72 dBV for MM, or 87 dBV A-weighted, and 68 dBV for MC, or 82 dBV A-weighted. The chassis is 435 x 170 x 485 mm and it draws 70 VA at 230 V, 50 Hz.

Engineering and use context

Canor fits matched tubes, namely eight 6922EH double triodes plus a 6CA4EH serving as a rectifier for the anode supply. The printed circuit boards are made with Canor's CMT technology, the company's own milling process developed to handle the very small signal amplitudes present in a turntable preamplifier. The power transformer core is vacuum impregnated and potted in an anti-vibration compound. A subsonic filter with an 18 Hz threshold rolls off at 18 dB per octave to reduce low-frequency rumble, and front panel buttons switch between the MM and MC inputs. Finishes are Aluminium Black and Aluminium Silver. Selectable MC gain and loading let one unit serve moving coil cartridges of different output levels and internal impedance.

Pairing

Balanced amplifiers and line preamplifiers can be fed from the XLR output, and the RCA output serves single-ended line inputs on integrated amplifiers, while the separate MM and MC inputs let one turntable with an MM pickup and a second arm or deck with an MC pickup remain wired to the unit.

Alternatives

Canor Audio's Asterion V2 is a related tube phono stage with the same MM and MC loading banks plus a balanced XLR input for moving coil cartridges.